“Places of memory – Fields of vision”

“Places of memory – Fields of vision”

Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki ()

December 21, 2012 – February 24, 2013
Opening: Friday, December 21, 2012, 20:30*

The memory of Thessaloniki and other neighboring cities, such as Istanbul or Belgrade,
the individual outline of each place through testimonies, overlaps, remnants and
revelations, and the city itself as a mnemonic space and psychic landscape, comprise
the basic axes of the exhibition “Places of memory – Fields of vision”, organized by
the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki (SMCA) at the Warehouse
1, port
area, from December 21, 2012 to February 24, 2013 (Opening: Friday, December 21,
2012, 20:30*.

Opening hours: Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday 10:00-
18:00, Thursday 10:00-21:00).

Sixteen paintings, prints, photographs, videos and installations –some older
productions of the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki, as well as new
productions that will be presented for the first time– intertwine and focus on the city’s
experienced memory, the imagining of its past life and its dynamic projection in the
future; they put on the map different regions from those usually celebrated through
official, commemorative practices.
The exhibition is part of the main program of the “Invisible Cities Festival. A
Cosmography” co-organized by the State Museum of Contemporary Art and the
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art. There will be also parallel events,
educational programs and guided tours.
*After the opening the SMCA-CACT will celebrate upcoming holidays along with
friends, wine and music by dj ELIAS (Elvis).

Syrago Tsiara, art historian and curator of the exhibition, mentions in her curatorial
text: “[…] Small, personal, unknown and long forgotten stories mingle with grand,
national or universal narratives and form the core of artistic quests which do not
embellish nor deny the innate contradiction of the ambiguous and potentially
controversial narratives. […] Time and human action alter the image of a place.
Remembrance always has a distorting effect on the existing urban landscape by
adding or removing older layers of representations, usages and experiences,
rearranging and signifying the place over again on an emotional basis.
Topoi do not always have realistic references; they may consist of imaginary
inventions, remnants of previous urban life patterns which ceased to exist, scenes
which didn’t have the time to be recorded down or were thrown out of the great
narratives. They are places that may attract or repel the passerby, suggesting an
alternative network of relationships.
Emotionally charged testimonies, realistic documentations, imaginary architectural
concepts, visual, acoustic and verbal evidence of a rapidly changing city landscape,
digital dystopias, and nightmarish paintings unfurl the experienced memories’
palimpsest and the traces left by the bodies shifting between existing or imagined
places. These places-objects are individually claimed, recalled, desired and rescued
from oblivion due to a conscious decision, methodical research or even random
discovery. And when identified, they trigger new intervening collectivities attempting to
define anew the meaning of precariousness, urgency and creativity, in today’s
contradictory and odd times.

Participating artists: Nancy Atakan, Yevgeniy Fiks, Genco Gülan, Rena Rädle &
Vladan Jeremic, Vladimir Miladinovic, Miloš Tomic, Richard Whitlock, Aikaterini
Gegisian, Visual March to Prespes, Sotiris Lioukras, Leda Papaconstantinou, Paris
Petridis – Sakis Serefas, Marios Spiliopoulos, Vicky Tsalamata, Evanthia Tsantila,
Stefanos Tsivopoulos

The exhibition will be accompanied by a program of parallel events (book
presentation, educational programs, guided tours etc). For more information,
contact (+30) 2310593270.

INFO:
HELLENIC MINISTRY OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS AND EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SPORTS
STATE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
21 Kolokotroni str. Stavroupoli, GR 56430, Thessaloniki, Greece
: +30 2310 589140-1 & 3, F: +30 2310 600123
www.greekstatemuseum.com, [email protected]

CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER OF THESSALONIKI
Warehouse B1, port area, PO BOX 107 59, GR 54110, Thessaloniki, Greece
: +30 2310 593270 & 2310 546683,
F: +30 2310 593271
www.cact.gr , [email protected] , www.myspace.com/cact_

SMCA PR and Communication Department [email protected],
[email protected] / : +30 2310 589152